Tiller Question - Page 2

Cajun_gardens · April 24, 2016

the best thing to do is to rent a sod remover machine thingy and cut off all the sod. then till it.

Here where I live (im not one to use this method) some people simply burn the grass down with diesel fuel and a match or roundup.

I - chose to rent one of those hydraulic tillers and attempted to cut through the st augustine grass ... nope. i ended up using a spade and cutting it all out by hand and then building a raised garden bed on top of the area I tilled after removing the sod and hauled in 11 cubic yards of premium compost/garden soil.

i've been taught that ideally you need 9-12" of good soil with adequate drainage to grow good tomato plants. Thats not to say there aren't exceptions though.

One of the previous posters mentioned making furrows with the tilled soil which would work. build a raised bed 3 or 4 landscaping timbers high ... leave enough room to walk/mow between each raised bed .. grow glorious tomatoes .. and be done.

BTW ..the 8' landscaping timbers are around $3 each.

might end up being much easier on your body in comparison to breaking up new ground with an obviously underpowered and undersized tiller.

Or .. you could have someone with a real tractor come and actually plow your sod (which ive seen done too). it takes about 3 minutes.

mrdoitall · April 24, 2016

I don't know what you paid to rent the tiller but around here it 75.00 to 100.00 per day. You can run an ad on craigslist or look on craigslist and get someone with a small tractor to come till it for you for less money than you pay to rent a tiller. I tilled gardens for 3 years when I got my tractor and PTO tiller. I paid for the tractor and tiller using it to till for other people. A garden your size would only cost $50.00 and I could do it in 15 minutes. I would till to at least 8" This maybe something to look into this year, If not next year for sure. It could be cheaper than renting. Let someone do the hard work for you with a tractor. Here is one in Brainerd They use a tractor with a 5 ft tiller >>> http://brainerd.craigslist.org/fgs/5543999475.html
Here is one in Bemidji they use a rear tine walk behine tiller>>>
http://bemidji.craigslist.org/fgs/5488062174.html
Here is one in St. Cloud>>>http://stcloud.craigslist.org/fgs/5530653225.html

Just look under Services then under Farm+Garden

April 24, 2016	#16
Cajun_gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 22	the best thing to do is to rent a sod remover machine thingy and cut off all the sod. then till it. Here where I live (im not one to use this method) some people simply burn the grass down with diesel fuel and a match or roundup. I - chose to rent one of those hydraulic tillers and attempted to cut through the st augustine grass ... nope. i ended up using a spade and cutting it all out by hand and then building a raised garden bed on top of the area I tilled after removing the sod and hauled in 11 cubic yards of premium compost/garden soil. i've been taught that ideally you need 9-12" of good soil with adequate drainage to grow good tomato plants. Thats not to say there aren't exceptions though. One of the previous posters mentioned making furrows with the tilled soil which would work. build a raised bed 3 or 4 landscaping timbers high ... leave enough room to walk/mow between each raised bed .. grow glorious tomatoes .. and be done. BTW ..the 8' landscaping timbers are around $3 each. might end up being much easier on your body in comparison to breaking up new ground with an obviously underpowered and undersized tiller. Or .. you could have someone with a real tractor come and actually plow your sod (which ive seen done too). it takes about 3 minutes. Last edited by Cajun_gardens; April 24, 2016 at 01:27 AM.

April 24, 2016	#17
mrdoitall Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Alabama Posts: 185	I don't know what you paid to rent the tiller but around here it 75.00 to 100.00 per day. You can run an ad on craigslist or look on craigslist and get someone with a small tractor to come till it for you for less money than you pay to rent a tiller. I tilled gardens for 3 years when I got my tractor and PTO tiller. I paid for the tractor and tiller using it to till for other people. A garden your size would only cost $50.00 and I could do it in 15 minutes. I would till to at least 8" This maybe something to look into this year, If not next year for sure. It could be cheaper than renting. Let someone do the hard work for you with a tractor. Here is one in Brainerd They use a tractor with a 5 ft tiller >>> http://brainerd.craigslist.org/fgs/5543999475.html Here is one in Bemidji they use a rear tine walk behine tiller>>> http://bemidji.craigslist.org/fgs/5488062174.html Here is one in St. Cloud>>>http://stcloud.craigslist.org/fgs/5530653225.html Just look under Services then under Farm+Garden Last edited by mrdoitall; April 24, 2016 at 04:05 AM.